Paying for movies/music - am I a fool?

murpho999 · 29-07-2016 11:31AM

I pay for Apple Music as I think artists deserve music that I enjoy again and again. It also works very well across my devices. Especially on iOS10 that I have the beta of.

Also, have Netflix and think it's great. Don't get the complaints about it. It's cheap, has great original content and there are some great films on it. However, most people seem to judge on being big Hollywood blockbuster releases but that does not mean they are good.

I used to have Sky Movies, but it's expensive and they repeat so much content. If I want a big movie then I will torrent it, it's very easy.

I don't but DVDs or CDs, all electronic media for me as its so convenient but I refuse to pay €15 -20 for something I would only watch once.

29-07-2016 11:38AM

I use Apple TV, mostly for watching Netflix. I can't remember the last time I watched regular TV at home, and have no cable TV subscription.

I pay for Spotify because it's €10 per month for unlimited music. I used to have the free version but the inability to select your next track for the sake of a fiver (introduction price) was unjustifiable.

If someone is in a very precarious financial position, I see absolutely nothing wrong with using pirate downloads. You have enough shit to be worried about in life, without burdening yourself with unnecessary moral dilemmas.

If you can afford the few quid, you really should pay for it.

Dodge · 29-07-2016 12:09PM

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

If someone is in a very precarious financial position, I see absolutely nothing wrong with using pirate downloads. You have enough shit to be worried about in life, without burdening yourself with unnecessary moral dilemmas.

If it was that precarious they should get rid of their broadband too...

Umekichi · 29-07-2016 12:11PM

I used to pirate pretty much anything and everything from movies to games and even books.
Since I started using netflix and filmon, I only pirate tv shows that aren't available on those sites. I pirate the occasional movie but not as much since my local cinema has deals for going midweek.
Music, I still kinda pirate(mainly because I use a youtube streamer to play my music). I tried spotify but I didn't care for it.
My game piracy has been reduced to 0 because of the likes of gog.com and steam, while I could torrent a game for free I'd have to be messing with cracks etc while at least with steam and gog.com I can usually buy the game pretty cheaply.
I think the main thing I still pirate is books, but I usually try to purchase them if I find that the book is good.

29-07-2016 12:16PM

Dodge wrote: »

If it was that precarious they should get rid of their broadband too...

That statement doesn't make sense. Having enough money to pay for the basics doesn't mean you have to cut out the basics.

Amirani · 29-07-2016 12:24PM

MP3 rippers from YouTube are absolute garbage.

10000maniacs · 29-07-2016 12:36PM

I still buy CD music. But only if they are collectable. All CDs pressed in the early 80s are very collectable and valuable.
People pay up to four figures (not kidding) for Early 80's Japanese pressed CDs.

Dodge · 29-07-2016 12:52PM

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

That statement doesn't make sense. Having enough money to pay for the basics doesn't mean you have to cut out the basics.

You consider broadband a basic. Others mightn't. That's all I'm saying

Your argument was that if someone can't pay for cable tv/spotify etc because they're in a "precarious" financial situation, you're OK with them streaming

I don't consider someone having the ability to pay for broadband as having a precarious financial situation

No moral judgement from me

29-07-2016 12:56PM

Dodge wrote: »

You consider broadband a basic. Others mightn't. That's all I'm saying

Your argument was that if someone can't pay for cable tv/spotify etc because they're in a "precarious" financial situation, you're OK with them streaming

I don't consider someone having the ability to pay for broadband as having a precarious financial situation

Ok you don't consider it a basic utility, but if a person cannot afford Netflix after paying their share for broadband, I think they have enough difficulties without being made feel bad about it.

I have colleagues who download entire TV series in work, to watch at home. Like almost all workers, they can afford Netflix, but just won't pay for it. That's going over the top, and I think that's a behaviour that should be discouraged because of the harm it causes to the film industry.

But if some young guy or girl is on the dole and just can't afford these subscriptions, I personally wouldn't have the slightest criticism of their use of free streaming services. It's not like they'd otherwise be in a position to buy it.

Dodge · 29-07-2016 01:03PM

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

Ok you don't consider it a basic utility, but if a person cannot afford Netflix after paying their share for broadband, I think they have enough difficulties without being made feel bad about it.

That's your moral code. I don't care either way

But if some young guy or girl is on the dole and just can't afford these subscriptions, I personally wouldn't have the slightest criticism of their use of free streaming services. It's not like they'd otherwise be in a position to buy it.

There's no difference between someone poor and someone rich "stealing" media content. This isn't food or shelter.

I download the odd time but I don't need to try and justify it on the grounds of "well I couldn't afford it, so I thought it'd be OK not to pay"

I just don't pay, and live with it

29-07-2016 01:15PM

Dodge wrote: »

I just don't pay, and live with it

Okay. I don't care. I gave my opinion in general.

theteal · 29-07-2016 01:25PM

Would you steal a car????

KungPao · 29-07-2016 01:41PM

I bought an LP today. Going back to the old way, fed up with digital music...it just has no soul, maaaan.

It's great to have a physical album with the sleeve n all. iTunes is a rip off, what is it, around 10 big ones for an album of ****ty MP3s or whatever files Apple use? Go on outta dat.

dulpit · 29-07-2016 02:57PM

Dodge wrote: »

If it was that precarious they should get rid of their broadband too...

Should they also get rid of their electricity? Broadband is a staple now, same as heating and electricity. Obviously if money is tight don't go running out to buy the highest package with all the bells and whistles, but you should have some amount of BB in your house.

Burial. · 29-07-2016 03:28PM

theteal wrote: »

Would you steal a car????

If you could get away with it, then everyone would be stealing cars. The fact is getting away with stealing a car is pretty hard, next to impossible for the average person. However torrenting an album or a TV series is as easy as driving your car to the shop and buying the exact same thing, in fact bootlegging is much easier.

Dodge · 29-07-2016 04:02PM

dulpit wrote: »

Should they also get rid of their electricity? Broadband is a staple now, same as heating and electricity. Obviously if money is tight don't go running out to buy the highest package with all the bells and whistles, but you should have some amount of BB in your house.

This really isn't the topic to discuss it, but €20 top up of a mobile gets most people all the internet they need so no, broadband isn't completely necessary

Unlike electricity and heating in your example above.

(and again, I'm not making any judgments on anyone)

Gbear · 29-07-2016 04:17PM

Digital media is worthless.

Whether you want to spend money on these services is whether you believe in being a patron to the artists they indirectly support.

Sooner or later music, film and so on is going to have to shift away from selling items and move towards patronage or selling services.
Cultural momentum of still considering abstract data to be a tangible object because that's the way it used to be is making this a slower process than it should be.

The cinema is still unique for all but multi-millionaires, gigs are a very different experience to just listening to music and there are good services where you can directly support artists like band camp.

There is no place in the market for a large swathe of parasites involved in distributing digital media. Only interference from the state is keeping them afloat.

miezekatze · 29-07-2016 04:35PM

My OH and I share a Netflix and a Spotify account, happy to pay for these and I really can't be bothered with illegal downloads. For games I use steam. I don't expect other people to work for free, and that's basically the attitude of people who download everything illegally.

VinLieger · 29-07-2016 04:38PM

The problem with the legal route like Netflix is their Irish catalogue for movies is still garbage and generally 1-2 years behind the US for tv seasons.

I still pay for Netflix but theres many a show or movie i simply cannot stream legally so i resort to free sites as there is no other option to view what I want to when I want.

Arghus · 29-07-2016 05:31PM

OP, I wouldn't feel bad about paying for your entertainment. I wouldn't listen to people who scoff at you for it either. There's a long term problem for all cultural industries, for providers and users, as long as the present system of widespread non payment continues. Don't expect quality to be going up.

That said, I'm not a totally up-standing citizen in this regard: I download plenty. But, I also pay for plenty. I'll always make the effort to go see a film if it's playing. I think people who say watching a film on the tv or on their laptops is the same, even better, are prize idiots, basically. The cinema is far more immersive and I can really get into a film in those surroundings, wheras at home I'm unfortunately likely to be looking at my phone 20% of the time. Aside from that I have a Netflix subscription, which is okay. Netflix has more content than you might be led to believe just by listening to people here, but if you want to watch a specific film you can find yourself frustrated a lot of the time. I'll often use google play if I can't get a movie through those other options. But if I have exhausted all other avenues and I still can't find a way to to watch a film, then I will turn to the internet for help.

As regards music: I love buying music, I always have. Sadly though all music stores in my area have closed over the last two years. For me, walking into a bricks and mortar store and going for a browse was a key part of the experience. I still buy music, and have a Spotify subscription, but it's not with the same frequency - Amazon just isn't the same. Maybe I'm mad, but I think music used to mean more to people when they had to seek it out and physically purchase it. And while it's great that the proliferation of broadband and streaming services has opened up the sheer amount of music that's available to people, I feel that it's come at a cost of how much it matters to the people who consume it.

NATLOR · 29-07-2016 05:44PM

I pay for spotify its a great service and well worth the money other than that I pirate all live TV,movies,TV shows

Aongus Von Bismarck · 29-07-2016 05:50PM

I pay for Spotify, Netflix and GAA GO. I find the convenience and quality of the services to be well worth the money. I have neither the time or the inclination to be rooting around on the seedy side of the internet looking for grainy streams or downloads.

jester77 · 29-07-2016 06:02PM

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I pay for Spotify, Netflix and GAA GO. I find the convenience and quality of the services to be well worth the money. I have neither the time or the inclination to be rooting around on the seedy side of the internet looking for grainy streams or downloads.

Has GAA GO improved? Had it at the start, the hurling ball was impossible to follow.

Aongus Von Bismarck · 29-07-2016 06:14PM

jester77 wrote: »

Has GAA GO improved? Had it at the start, the hurling ball was impossible to follow.

It has. There was issues with the quality of the streams last year but they have been sorted. My only quibble is that it's an all or nothing subscription. I'd rather try and eat my own toenails than watch the majority of football games. A hurling only service would be ideal for me.

dulpit · 29-07-2016 06:28PM

jester77 wrote: »

Has GAA GO improved? Had it at the start, the hurling ball was impossible to follow.

Hurling ball.

HardenendMan · 29-07-2016 07:37PM

I personally detest piracy, and not because I'm a capitalist nut. I particularly detest software piracy because as a software developer I like to think that someone sees some sort of value in my creations. Granted most of my clients are big corporations who pay the bills.

In saying all that, it is all down to the product on offer. Netflix were the first to really nail it for movies. iTunes somehow succeeded and lasted really long despite a purchase model rather than subscription. But I guess the iPod product was so good that people saw the value.

HardenendMan · 29-07-2016 07:39PM

Aongus Von Bismarck wrote: »

I pay for Spotify, Netflix and GAA GO. I find the convenience and quality of the services to be well worth the money. I have neither the time or the inclination to be rooting around on the seedy side of the internet looking for grainy streams or downloads.

You don't know what you're missing on the seedy side - it's full of porn

murpho999 · 29-07-2016 10:24PM

For those complaining about movies on Netflix, which I think is quite good.

Netflix have just revamped their line-up and The Irish Times have just published an article about the best 50 films on Netflix. Some great films there. I think some people only watch Hollywood blockbusters that Sky always get, which is not always the best choice.

Article is here.

briany · 29-07-2016 10:42PM

Arghus wrote: »

I think people who say watching a film on the tv or on their laptops is the same, even better, are prize idiots, basically. The cinema is far more immersive and I can really get into a film in those surroundings, wheras at home I'm unfortunately likely to be looking at my phone 20% of the time.

Laptops and phones would certainly be less than optimal, but if someone has taken the time to setup a decent home cinema experience then I don't think there'd be that much difference in terms of your immersion, plus they get to customize their experience to their liking (their own food, own drink, skip the trailiers etc.). Beyond that what I think the pictures offers is the experience of being at the pictures, the sights and the sounds it entails, which some enjoy more than others. Also, there's nothing to prevent a person glancing at their phone in a theater and becoming distracted and out of the film in the same way you would at home. I find that if a film is good, it tends to hold my attention no matter where I'm watching it, or even how.

riclad · 29-07-2016 10:48PM

Netflix is cheap ,1000.s of movies,tv shows to watch anytime.
Its worth paying for.Most american ,drama,s comedy programs are on are on sky entertainment package .
apart from certain programs like mr robot ,game of thrones .
you can also buy a freesat reciever .
no you are not a fool.

Paying for movies/music - am I a fool?

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